Saturday, July 12, 2014

Compliments with Complaints

I was recently at this transit airport waiting for my
connecting flight. The flight had been delayed by over 2 hours. I waited at the
lounge for an updated announcement. Next to me on my seating aisle were 2
gentlemen who I believe were waiting for the same flight as I was.

I had been traveling almost the entire day and was bored of
sitting in the flights and airports. Wanting to start a conversation, I looked
at the gentleman (GM 1) seated next to me and said –

Me – This is turning into a long day…

GM 1- yeah... And you know what, I have
been traveling since morning

Me – ah… Same here. I started at 3 in
the morning

GM 1 – oh... Sorry to hear that

I noticed
that the other gentleman (GM 2) was looking at us almost trying to say
something.

GM 1- Where are you traveling from?

Me – Bangalore

GM 1 – Bangalore? India?

Me – Yes

Suddenly the other gentleman pitched in…

GM 2 – You watch
soccer? The soccer world cup. You call that football right?

I don’t know how he mixed soccer and Bangalore. I can make
sense if it was cricket. But this is football, and football is not as famous as
cricket in India. Also India is not playing in the football world cup. Maybe he
too was bored and wanted to join the conversation, and he grabbed the first opportunity.

It was a good conversation from then on. We discussed about
football world cup at length. The teams we supported, previous world cups,
players etc. The conversation at some point shifted to cars and then into
petrol and diesel cars. Somewhere one of
us brought in movies which were themed on cars and racing, and soon we were
talking about movies. I think we had been talking for almost 20-30 mins.

We were on a momentary thinking pause, when an elderly
gentleman (EG) sitting diagonally opposite to me, looked at me and said –

EG – Hey. You
know... You talk a lot.

I was stunned. Suddenly my brain felt empty and there were
no words down my throat. It took me a few moments to gather myself. We were
talking in a low voice, there was nothing unethical in our talk, and so I saw
no reason why he had said that.

EG – Actually what I meant was you spoke about a lot of things. You
seem to know a lot of things.

Wow! What was that? Was that an appreciation or some kind of
cover up? But it actually felt good. He then looked at the 3 of us and
continued –

EG (with a big smile)
– You all do. You all know a lot of things and I really liked the
conversation.

I looked at the faces of the other two. They seemed equally
stunned, and neither said a word. It was complete silence from then on. I didn’t
open my mouth nor did the other two guys. Soon there was an announcement for
boarding our flight. I gave a smile to the 3 gentlemen and walked towards the
boarding area. Not a word was spoken.

It has been almost 2 weeks since that happened. I am still
unable to make meaning of what had happened that day. Was that a complaint or a
compliment? Either way it has left me thoughtful. These days every time I talk
to somebody I subconsciously ask myself if I am talking to the point or if I have
crossed it.

Compliments can make you feel good. Complaints can make you
feel bad. But what about Compliments which start with a Complaint? Hmm... I am getting
there.